Page 126 of Hard to Kill

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Page 126 of Hard to Kill

I give Brigid a quick, sidelong glance. She’s staring at Morelli in his black T-shirt, black jeans, black boots. Black eyes. Her face is the color of tissue paper. Her hands are clasped on her lap, tightly, the knuckles as white as the rest of her.

“Who sent you here?”

“My boss.”

“I thought your uncle was your boss.”

“You still just don’t get it.” He sighs. “You still don’t know what you just do not goddamn know.”

“Enlighten me then.”

“Why I’m here,” he says, “is to try to get through to you for the last time.” He shrugs and grins. “Do I have your attentionnow?”

The note on Martin that night had said the same thing.

“Undivided.”

My sister’s breathing is shallow next to me, forced, harsh.

I’m the reason he’s in her house.

I brought him into her life.

I did this.

“There’s been a change in our business model, I guess you could call it,” Morelli says. “At this point, we have no problem with you defending Eric’s dad, as long as you leave the rest of it alone. Leave us alone, before we close this thing down for good.”

“Close what down, you don’t mind me asking?”

He picks up the gun, points at me, squints as if aiming it across the short distance between us.

But puts it back down as quickly as he lifted it.

“Does it really matter at this point?”

“To me it does.”

“Yeah,” he says, “it would matter to you. Wouldn’t it?”

I arch my back, as if stretching it, placing my hands in the small of my back.

Feeling my own gun back there, stuck into the back of my jeans.

How does Jimmy like to put it?

Just in case the ball goes up.

“All you have to do is tell your partner to stop bothering people and stop asking questions about shit that has nothing to do with you defending Eric’s sack-of-shit father. Then nobody else has to die, Eric and I ride off into the sunset like the cowboys we are.”

“What about your friend McKenzie? Does he ride off with you?”

Morelli gives me a sly look, as if he’s got a secret. “I sure do hope nothing happens to him!” he says, his voice suddenly brightening.

He nods at me. “This is a deal you should take, while it’s still on the table.”

“If I don’t?”

“Jane!”my sister says plaintively.




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